First-edition copy of ‘Ulysses’ one of hundreds of books from Birmingham-Southern College up for auction

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Nearly 1,000 books, maps and atlases that were previously the property of Birmingham-Southern College will soon go up for auction, including a rare copy of one of the greatest novels in the English language.

From July 31 to Aug. 1, Grant Zahajko Auction will host an auction including hundreds of rare books and artifacts that had been housed at the now-defunct school, which closed in May due to financial difficulties. According to the auction house, the books were kept in a special room called “the wood room” on campus.

“This collection represents three hundred years of history, with material relating to cartography, abolitionism, law, exploration, and U.S. history by state, featuring Alabama, Florida and others,” Grant Zahajko, of Grant Zahajko Auctions, said in a statement. “Many titles represent the first to come to market in decades. Some books are one of only a few to come to market in the last hundred-plus years.”

One notable part of the auction includes a rare copy of James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” one of 2,000 first-edition English prints that were made in 1922. The book was originally published in several installments between 1918 and 1920 in the magazine The Little Review before being collected into a single novel. Other copies of this first-run print of English copies typically go between $40,000 and $75,000, while a signed first edition has fetched over $100,000 at auction, according to biblio.com . The website has starting bid estimates between $2,000 and $3,000.

A signed, first-edition copy of Tuskegee President and Black intellectual Booker T. Washington’s “The Story of the Negro: The Rise of the Race from Slavery” is also included, which was originally printed in 1909.

There are also many rare atlases and maps that will be up for auction, including a 1721 copy of John Senex’s “A New General Atlas, Containing a Geographical and Historical Account of All the Empires, Kingdoms and Other Dominions of the World,” with a current starting bid between $12,000 and $18,000.

Internet bidding is available on the popular platforms LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com, Auctionzip.com, Connect.Invaluable.com (Grant Zahajko’s branded version of Invaluable) and Auction Mobility (Grant Zahajko’s branded platform). Phone and absentee bids will be accepted.

For a full list of the auction items, click here .

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